by Lisa Olsen
“Allow me,” he said, taking hold of the end and slowly drawing the glove off my arm. Only instead of tossing it aside, he pushed me back against the wall again, bringing my hands together up over my head as he kissed me deeply. We weren’t under the protection of the eave anymore, and the rain coursed over us in rivulets, adding a cool tingle against the heat from wherever our bodies touched.
There was a sharp delight as he wrapped the long, satin glove around my wrists, binding them together as his mouth ravaged mine. Once done tying, his hands slid lower, over my curves and down to my hips and back up again, his thumbs brushing against the undersides of my breasts. I kept my arms up, even though I could’ve easily brought them down between us, or even torn the glove in two if I wanted, but that wasn’t what this was about. This was about Rob taking control of a situation he felt utterly powerless over in real life, and I was all kinds of happy to give it to him.
His hands framed my face, pulling back to meet my gaze. “I’ve mussed your hair,” he realized, tucking the loose strands back behind my ear.
“I don’t care. I wouldn’t mind a little mussing.”
“Told you, there wouldn’t be nothing little about it.” The corner of his mouth tugged up into a half smile before it covered mine again, and I tasted the sweet rain mingled with his unique tang, my senses on overload as those talented hands had me gasping for breath. He was the one to break the kiss, his lips traveling south, keeping me pinned against the wall with his body. Nibbling and sucking, his teeth scraped the sensitive skin down the side of my neck, nudging at the pearls there until he reached up and tore them free. They skittered every which way, already forgotten as his mouth pulled against my flesh hard enough to mark me, for a short time anyway, branding me as his.
“Feel like living dangerously, do you?” I approved, wishing I had the use of my hands, but there was something thrilling about being entirely under his power.
“I feel like living for once,” Rob rasped against my skin, hands moving lower again, with purpose. There was no fumbling, his hands were strong and sure, testing my readiness for him and lifting my hips with ease. Now I did lower my arms, but only to place them around his neck, pulling him closer as my legs wrapped around his waist in anticipation. He slid into me, hot and fast, and the breath left my body in a ragged moan of devastating pleasure.
The sitting room superimposed over the alley for a moment, and I could see myself sitting on the chair, my head thrown back in rapture.
Rob froze between my thighs, his face buried in my neck as he edged closer to wakefulness and I chased after his mouth with mine.
“Don’t stop, it’s safe here, I promise,” I coaxed, but he pulled back to look at me, brows drawn together.
“This isn’t real.”
“It’s real if you want it to be,” I insisted, lips teasing the corner of his mouth, willing him to stay in the dream, but it was no good. In the next instant I slammed back into full consciousness, sucking in a breath even as he rolled to a seated position, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“What did you do?” His words came out as a harsh whisper.
“The only thing I could.” I pleaded with him to understand, to go back to sleep where the dream waited, or another, I wasn’t picky.
“You ought not to have done that,” he said shortly, tugging on his pants with brisk movements, and his shoes after that.
“Where are you going?” I said as loudly as I dared, following him to the door, but he didn’t answer me. Rob didn’t stop at all, flinging open the door and striding down the hall bare chested. I scrambled after him, shutting the door as quietly as I could, with Tucker following after me in wolf form. He was fast, but I was faster, and I caught up with him in the deserted kitchens, trekking with purpose to the garden outside into the biting air.
“Hey, don’t walk away from me,” I demanded when he showed no signs of slowing.
Rob turned, his breath steaming in the bitter cold. “Not here,” was all he said, his head jerking to the maze out back.
I might have preferred the deserted levels the Order had vacated, but I could understand his need to get outside. “Stay inside, Tucker. I’ll be fine,” I said, following after Rob, keeping half an ear attuned to make sure Tucker did as he was told and no one else had the bright idea of following us into the hedges. As near as I could tell, no one else was crazy enough to attempt it so close to dawn. In fact, there were few signs of life in the mansion at all, it being late for vampires and early for humans on staff.
We were nearly to the center of the maze when Rob whirled on me, his words harsh and guttural. “You ought not to have done that,” he repeated.
“Okay, so maybe I should’ve asked you first, but what’s the big deal? I didn’t do anything but join you in there, I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to. Did I?” The sudden flare of doubt plagued me, but that wasn’t his concern at all.
“You do realize Jakob can do the same thing, right? What if he was to enter your dream and find you and I together like that?”
“He couldn’t blame me for a harmless dream.”
“Want to bet? What if he learned we was sharing the same dream? You were sitting out there in the same room for anyone to see. Alls it would take is a quick look into each of our heads. He’d end us before we could so much as open our eyes.”
My jaw dropped as the idea solidified into a very real threat and I’d been utterly clueless to the danger. Head hanging in shame, it made me sick to think what might have happened if Jakob had been the one to discover us. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that.”
“Put this out of your head for now, it ain’t worth the risk.” His voice softened as he tipped my head up to meet his gaze. “Promise me you won’t do such a daft thing again without talking it over with me, yeah?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things worse. I just want…”
Rob cut me off, pressing his forehead to mine. “I know. I want it too. I want…” His tongue darted out to moisten his lips, mouth inching closer to mine before he caught hold of himself, drawing in a deep breath as he took a step back. “It’s time for you to be getting on up to bed, miss. It’ll be dawn soon.”
“Please don’t call me miss.” If there was anything that made me feel the rift between us, it was that single word.
“I don’t think I can say your name no more without giving myself away.”
“Oh.” He was right, it was getting harder and harder to act like he meant nothing more to me than Gunnar or any other member of my staff. But what else could we do?
“Tell you what, every time I call you miss, you can think of this.” Rob leaned in and gently kissed my lips, slowly, full of bittersweet longing.
I nodded when he pulled back, reaching up to wrap my fingers around the back of his neck. “And every time I say your name, you think of this.” My lips lowered to his neck, fangs extending slightly. I made the tiniest of punctures there, drawing against his flesh just enough to send a ribbon of pleasure through him, relishing the hint of his blood across my tongue.
“The things you say.” His voice rumbled through me as we held each other close. It was crazy cold outside though, and despite the heat his body put out, I could tell it was starting to get to him.
“Are you really alright?” I asked, pulling back for my first up close and personal look at the ridge of scar over his heart. My fingers skimmed over it lightly, and he shivered, whether from my touch or the cold, I wasn’t sure.
His hand covered mine, pressing my hand closer. “I healed right enough. But there’s an ache in my heart Jakob’s blood can’t fill.”
“I’m there, he can’t take that away from us.”
“No, he can’t,” he agreed softly.
There was so much more I wanted to say, more than anything I wanted to stay in his arms, but he was right. Now wasn’t our time. Every second that ticked by spelled danger for the two of us. I could feel the sun rising higher in the sky and my eyes began
to itch with the coming dawn. At some unspoken agreement we turned and meandered back to the house, our hands uncoupling as we left the protection of the maze.
Tucker barely lifted his head as we slipped into the suite and I didn’t look back until I reached the door to my bedroom.
“Goodnight, miss.” Rob’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but it reached my ears fine.
“G’nite, Rob,” I said, taking one last longing look before I climbed into my cold bed alone.
Chapter Twelve
I had a feeling I dreamt about Rob that day, but the dream slipped away with the sun, no matter how hard I chased after it. For once I had Jakob to myself, as I found him consuming a ginormous meal of fish and chips with an ocean of steamed clams on the side. I swiped a fry off his plate, nibbling on it as I settled on the chair opposite him, giving nothing more than a polite smile to Rob who sat at the couch, cleaning one of his guns on the coffee table.
“So um, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
“I know, petal,” he said, delicately licking the grease from his fingers. “My apologies, my time has not been my own.”
“No biggie, I know you’re a living god or whatever to these guys, but I did want to ask you something.” That wasn’t strictly true. I didn’t want to ask him anything, but I figured I’d get better results if I couched my desire to leave in terms that made it sound like I was hanging on his every word.
Jakob smiled indulgently. “You can ask me anything, älskling.”
“Great,” I smiled. In for a penny, in for a pound… “I’ve been thinking, since you have things pretty much sewn up around here, I might go home early. There’s a lot to do before my formal inauguration, and I’m sure there are a ton of questions right now with you stepping forward as my Sire. I figure Felix can funnel any outstanding business to me as it comes up.” I said nothing of the unrest waiting for me, figuring he might deem it too dangerous for poor little Anja to handle on her own. I only hoped he hadn’t heard about it through the grapevine, but he showed no sign of anything but approval in his reply.
“That’s a good idea. You would do well to prepare for my return. There will be quite a fuss, I expect,” he smiled. “I have some business to see to before I join you there, but I see no reason why you can’t make the journey, provided you are properly protected.”
Cool beans on toast! “Right, of course. We’d be taking the private jet, so it’s pretty well protected.”
“You’ll take a full security detail with you wherever you go once you leave the House of Vetis,” Jakob insisted, dipping his fingers in lemon scented water before drying them on the napkin folded across his lap. “Even to the smallest errand.”
Again with the extra security. I positively itched to ask him about the extra werewolf buddies he’d sent after us the night before, but I held my tongue except to say, “Okay. Um, why the need for more red shirts?”
“Because the world is fraught with danger,” he said as though it was patently obvious.
Who did he think he was talking to? If there was anyplace I felt safe in the world, it was in San Francisco among my own people. “I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself.”
“I wish that were so, petal.” Jakob reached out and patted me on the cheek like a child and it was all I could do not to bite him as he pulled his hand away. “Rob, don’t you leave her side for one moment from dusk ‘til dawn until I return to her side, is that clear?”
“As crystal,” Rob replied without looking up from the oily rag.
I couldn’t complain about that, but it worried me, what Jakob meant by returning to my side. I wasn’t about to press him on it though. “Great, well, I should get things in motion then. I’d like to leave tonight and I should probably make the rounds, see if anyone needs me for anything before we go. Also, I wanted to say goodbye to Sylvius too. Rob, can you check and see if we need to put a request in for that or something?”
“Sure thing, miss.”
I smiled on the inside all the way out the door.
*
My first stop was to see Felix and let him get cooking on the logistics to fly us out of there. By the time we left, Bridget was complaining she needed a whole new suitcase to take home all the loot she’d picked up on the trip. When had she gone shopping and why hadn’t she invited me along?
Rob excused himself after getting a text from Jakob requiring his immediate assistance, and Gunnar took over as my primary babysitter with the promise that I wouldn’t leave the grounds without waiting for Rob to catch up with me. Deciding to skip any formalities, I dragged Gunnar down to the lower levels to see Sylvius, figuring it was simpler that way.
Hoping to find Sylvius in one of his more lucid periods, I was trying to figure out a good way to bring up keeping an eye on Aubrey or at least appointing someone to keep an eye on him, when the man himself emerged from Sylvius’ chambers. I opened my mouth to say something, but Aubrey turned and skedaddled in the opposite direction so fast, I wasn’t sure if he’d seen me at all. Heck, maybe he was late for a cricket match on TV or something for all I knew.
I knocked softly, but the great wooden door all but swallowed the sound.
“Maybe you try harder, like this.” Gunnar thumped on the door, the sound echoing in the stone corridor with an ominous tone.
“Way to sound like the villagers with torches and pitchforks, now he’ll never answer,” I muttered, pushing the door open a crack to peek inside. The lamps were turned down low, despite the hour, most of the light coming from the fireplace. Sylvius sat slumped at his table before the fire, unmoving.
“Sylvius?” I called out softly. I knew he could hear me, if he chose to. The Elder jerked in his chair, but didn’t say anything. Jeez, maybe I’d woken him from a nap? “Sylvius? I’m sorry to disturb you, but can I talk to you for a few minutes?” I pushed further into the room, my eyes adjusting to the gloom. “It’s me, Anja. Remember? Daughter of Jakob?” There was no sense in skirting the issue now.
His shoulders were even more stooped than they’d been the last time I’d seen him, as though he was caving in on himself. His long, brown hair fell loose around his shoulders, but wild, as though it hadn’t been brushed in a couple of days. One arm was retracted close to his body, the other pushed puzzle pieces around in short, jerky movements.
“Sylvius? Do you remember me?” It didn’t look like we’d caught him on a good day at all.
“Doesn’t much matter now,” he replied, sounding winded, as though he’d been running. “You won’t remember me after I’m gone either.”
“Of course I will. Sylvius, when the time comes you’ll be leaving behind a great legacy. A thousand years is nothing to sneeze at. Think of all you’ve accomplished.” Not that I had an inkling of what he’d actually done with his lifetime, but reaching the status of Elder, it had to be pretty impressive.
“Doesn’t much matter now,” he repeated, fingers scrabbling at a puzzle piece that eluded his fingers, the fine dexterity needed to pick it up having left him. “Must hurry now, it’s coming… I can feel it.”
“What’s coming?”
“I can feel it eating at me from the inside. Won’t be anything left. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Gnawing and eating…”
“Okay, you’re starting to freak me out. Gunnar, maybe we should call someone for help, don’t you think?”
“Too late. Too late to help me.” Sylvius finally looked up at me, and my veins froze as I saw his eye filling up with blood. I knew only too well what that meant. “Gunnar, hit the bell pull and go get the Doc! Frak, wait… he’s gone, all the Order’s gone. Go get Bishop… he’ll know what to do.”
“Too late…” Sylvius burbled, his voice thick and decaying. As I watched, his body caved in on itself as the ACBT ran its course and true to his words, Sylvius turned into a pile of dust in a matter of seconds. A younger vampire might have left more of a mess, but one as ancient as Sylvius left nothing but oily ash.
If he’d been left alone
, there would be no sign of how he’d died, and no hint of the Order’s current weapon of choice. Certainly no link to Aubrey if we hadn’t seen him leave minutes before.
Gunnar hovered beside me, unsure what orders to carry out. “What do I do, boss?”
“Find Bishop, tell him what happened. I’m going to go look for Aubrey. He has some explaining to do.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Why I don’t come with you?”
He was right, Rob would kill me himself if he found out I planned to accuse Aubrey of murder without backup. “Fine, we’ll stick together.” I reached for the bell pull, jerking it over and over until the sounds of footsteps scurrying in the halls reached my ears. A nameless page entered, face crumpling in confusion when he found us there and not Sylvius.
“Go get Aubrey and Bishop, right away, it’s an emergency,” I said, barely catching myself in time from blurting out that Sylvius had been murdered. The last thing I wanted to do was start a panic. The page hesitated for an instant, confused when he spotted the ash on the ground and I sent him a quick burst of compulsion. “Get moving!”
More than anything I wanted it to be Bishop who came in first, but it was Aubrey who sauntered in, completely at ease for being summoned in his own House. “Something amiss?” he asked, eyes lingering on the pile of ash for a moment before he turned to pour himself a drink.
“You know exactly what happened here. I’m giving you the chance to come clean about it.”
“Come clean about what? There’s no crime afoot here, so you can climb off your high horse, sweets.”
How could he be so calm when all I wanted to do was tear his face off? “You don’t call murdering Sylvius with ACBT a crime?”
“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?” he smirked, taking a sip and then pouring the rest of the glass. “It was more of a mercy killing than murder. Like putting down an old dog who was only suffering. You should be thanking me, really.”
